Mailing package

ABSTRACT

A package that has a container part which defines a cavity having an opening for receiving a product, a closure part which is movable from a first closed position, in which it closes the opening to the cavity, to an open position in which it opens the opening to the cavity, and an outer surface having an address thereon which is covered by the closure part in the first closed position thereof is disclosed. The closure part has a first configuration in the first closed position and is adapted to be moved from the first configuration to a second configuration in which it is able to adopt a second closed position in which it closes the opening to the cavity, but leaves the address uncovered.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a package for sending goods in and isparticularly, but not exclusively, concerned with a returnable packagefor exchanging goods between people, for instance returning used partsor refills in the same package in which the replacement is received

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known for suppliers of refills for refillable devices to requestthe supplied person to return a used refill to a return address, e.g.the supplier, in the package in which a replacement is sent. However, ithas been found difficult to achieve a high degree of compliance to thisrequest. One reason for this is that typically the supplier provides areturn address label inside the package sent to the user which the userthen needs to adhere to the outer surface of the package for returnmailing with the used refill.

The need for a high degree of compliance in having used or redundantproducts returned will be compounded for products having electrical orelectronic features when the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE) Directive is implemented in the European Union. This is becausethe WEEE Directive will make the producers of such goods responsible fortheir recycling or disposal.

It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a packagewhich promotes its return with a product therein to a predeterminedaddress.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a package having acontainer part which defines a cavity having an opening for receiving aproduct, a closure part which is movable from a first closed position,in which it closes the opening to the cavity, to an open position inwhich it opens the opening to the cavity, and an outer surface having anaddress thereon which is covered by the closure part in the first closedposition thereof, the closure part having a first configuration in thefirst closed position and being adapted to be moved from the firstconfiguration to a second configuration in which it is able to adopt asecond closed position in which it closes the opening to the cavity, butleaves the address uncovered.

The invention further provides a blank of sheet material dimensioned andarranged to form a package according to the invention.

Preferred features of the invention are set forth in the subordinateclaims appended hereto.

By way of example, a non-limiting embodiment of the present inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanying FIGURES ofdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a mailable package in accordancewith the present invention having a container part and a closure part ina closed position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective front view of the package showing the closurepart in the process of being moved to an open position.

FIG. 3 is a further perspective front view of the package showing theclosure part in the open position revealing a return mailing address ona front panel of the container part.

FIG. 4 is a yet further perspective front view of the package in whichan outer portion of the closure part is being detached from an innerportion of the closure part.

FIG. 5 is a perspective front view of the package in a condition to beremailed with the inner portion of the closure part closing off thecontainer part.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material from which thepackage is formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The FIGURES of drawings show a hollow, box-like carton or package 1 inaccordance with the invention which comprises a container part 3 and alid or closure part 5.

The package 1 is made from a foldable board material, such as cardboard,and is formed into the rectilinear construction shown in the FIGURESfrom an appropriately shaped and sized blank of the board material, anexample of which is shown in FIG. 6 indicating the fold lines in chainline about which the blank is folded to form the package 1.

The package 1 presents a front panel 7, opposed side panels 9,11, a rearpanel 13 and a bottom panel 15. These panels of the package 1 define thecontainer part 3. In addition, the package 1 further presents a toppanel 17 and a front flap 19 hinged to the top panel 17 which overliesthe front panel 7. The top panel 17 and front flap 19 define the closurepart 5 of the package 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the front flap 19 of the closure part 5is connected to the front panel 7 of the container part 3 through aperforate connection 21. Other types of frangible or detachableconnection, however, could be used. As further shown in FIG. 1, thefront flap 19 is formed with a tab 23 at its lower end and the frontpanel 7 is formed with a recess 25 adjacent the flap 23 to enable auser's thumb to lift the tab 23 to draw the front flap 19 upwardly todetach or tear the front flap 19 from the front panel 7. This is shownschematically in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 3, this shows the package 1 in its open state withthe front flap 19 having been torn away from the front panel 7. It willfirstly be seen that in tearing the front flap 19 away from the frontpanel 7, a return mailing address 27 on the front panel 7 is exposed. Itwill further be seen that the closure part 5 has separable inner andouter portions 29,31, respectively. The outer portion 31 of the closurepart 5 comprises an outer portion 30 of the top panel 17 and the frontflap 19 hingeably connected thereto at a fold line 33. The inner portion29, on the other hand, comprises an inner portion 32 of the top panel 17and a flap or tongue 34 hinged to the inner portion 32 at a fold line36. The outer portion 31 has a frangible or detachable connection withthe inner portion 29 at a rear edge 35. The outer and inner portions 30,32 may also be releasably adhered together at the mutually facingsurfaces thereof.

Conveniently, the inner surface of the inner portion 32 carriesinstructions on how to use the package 1. As will be understood, theinstructions only become visible after opening the package 1. Suchinstructions may be diagrammatic

Turning now to FIG. 4, after the front flap 19 has been detached fromthe front panel 7, the outer portion 31 of the closure part 5 isdetached from the package 1 by breaking the frangible connection betweenthe outer portion 31 and the inner portion 29 at the frangibleconnection 35.

After a replacement product (not shown) contained in the hollowcompartment 41 defined between the container part 3 and the closure part5 has been removed and replaced with a used or old product (not shown),the package 1 is re-closed by the inner portion 29 of the closure part5, as shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, the inner portion 29 of the closurepart 5 is closed by tucking the flap 34 thereof into the compartment 41so as to be held in place between side flaps 45,47 extending from theside panels 9,11 and an inner surface of the front panel 7. This is thesame configuration adopted by the inner portion 29 when the closure part5 is in the closed position when including the outer portion 31 (FIG.1).

After appropriate sealing, for instance with adhesive tape, the package1 is able to be mailed to the return address for appropriate recyclingand/or waste disposal of the used product. In this regard, a postingfrank or stamp 43 may be provided for promoting compliance of the userin returning the used or old product in the package 1.

Not only does the package 1 have the advantage of promoting its sendingto the return address 27, the attachment of the front flap 19 to thecontainer part 3 through the frangible connection 21 provides thepackage 1 with an advantageous tamper-proofing feature since theconnection 21 has to be broken for opening of the package 1, but itcannot be restored after its breakage.

It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to thepackage 1 described with reference to the FIGURES, but encompasses allvariations, modifications and other guises falling within the scope ofthe appended claims.

As an example, the outer and inner portions 30,32 of the closure part 5of the package 1 may be stuck together and the front flap 19 frangiblyconnected to the outer portion 30 at the mutual fold line 33 so that theouter portion 30 is retained in the “return mode” of the package 1.

Alternatively, the outer portion 30 of the top panel 17 is dispensedwith and the front flap 19 is frangibly connected to the inner portion29 of the closure part 5 at fold line 36. In use, the front flap 19 istorn away from the container part 3 and the inner portion 29, and theinner portion 29 then opened.

A further variation would be to have the front flap 19 formed into anupper section extending downwardly from the fold line 33, and a lowersection frangibly connected to the upper section and including the tab23. To open the package 1, the lower section of the front flap 19 wouldbe detached from the upper section to leave the upper section to form adouble-layer flap with the flap 34 for tucking into the package 1 whenit is to be sent to the return address.

A yet further variation would be to dispense with the outer portion 30and have the front flap 19 form a detachable extension of the flap 34,e.g. through a perforated connection. In the initial closed position,the flap 34 would be on the outer surface of the front panel 7 with thefront flap 19. In operation, the front flap 19 would be torn away fromthe front panel 7 and the flap 34 to just leave the inner portion 29.The flap 34 would then be tucked into the package 1 for closing thepackage 1 when it is to be sent to the return address 27.

In FIG. 6 the blank for the package 1 is shown as formed from two sheetsof material. However, a package in accordance with the invention couldbe formed from a single sheet or more than two sheets.

It will further be understood that the use of relative orientation termssuch as “front”, “rear” etc. in the specific description are not used ina limiting sense, but for simplicity.

Finally, the use of reference numerals from the specific description inthe appended claims is not to be taken as having a limiting effect onthe scope of the claims, but purely for illustration.

1. A package having a container part which defines a cavity having anopening for receiving a product, a closure part which is movable from aclosed position, in which it closes the opening to the cavity, to anopen position in which it opens the opening to the cavity, and an outersurface having an address thereon which is covered by the closure partin the closed position thereof, wherein the closed position is a firstclosed position, the closure part has a first configuration in the firstclosed position and is adapted to be moved from the first configurationto a second configuration in which it is able to adopt a second closedposition in which it closes the opening to the cavity, but leaves theaddress uncovered.
 2. The package of claim 1 in which the closure partis adapted in use to be sequentially moved from the first closedposition to the open position in its first configuration and from theopen position to the second closed position in its second configuration.3. The package of claim 1 wherein the closure part has a cover sectionwhich in the first closed position covers the address and which in thesecond closed position does not cover the address.
 4. The package ofclaim 3 in which the cover section of the closure part is a detachablecover section adapted to be detached from the closure part, detachmentof the detachable cover section moving the closure part from the firstto the second configuration.
 5. The package of claim 4 in which theclosure part has a permanent section which in the first and secondclosed positions is secured to the container part to close the openingto the cavity.
 6. The package of claim 5 in which the permanent sectionis secured to the container part in the open position.
 7. The package ofclaim 5 wherein in the first closed position the cover section forms anextension of the permanent section.
 8. The package of claim 5, whereinthe cover section overlies the permanent section.
 9. The package ofclaim 5 wherein the container part has a plurality of sides of which afirst side has the opening to the cavity and a second side presents theouter surface with the address, wherein in the first and second closedpositions the permanent section overlies the first side to close theopening and wherein in the first closed position the cover sectiondepends from the permanent section to overlie the address on the secondside.
 10. The package of claim 3 in which the cover section of theclosure part is detachably affixed to the outer surface of the containerpart in the first closed position.
 11. The package of claim 10 in whichthe cover section of the closure part is frangibly connected to theouter surface of the container part in the first closed position. 12.The package of claim 11 in which the frangible connection is a perforateconnection.
 13. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part andcontainer part are integrally formed.
 14. The package of claim 1 inwhich the closure part is hinged to the container part.
 15. The packageof claim 1 which is rigid or semi-rigid.
 16. The package of claim 1 inthe form of a box-like structure.
 17. The package of claim 1 made from aboard material.
 18. The package of claim 1 which is formed from sheetmaterial.
 19. The package of claim 18 wherein the closure part has acover section which in the first closed position covers the address andwhich in the second closed position does not cover the address, and inwhich the cover section is formed from a first piece of sheet materialand the balance of the package is formed from a second piece of sheetmaterial.
 20. The package of claim 1 in which the address is on an outersurface of the container part.
 21. The package of claim 1 in which theaddress is on a label affixed to the outer surface of the package. 22.The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is adapted so as to beunable to return to the first closed position from the open position.23. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is fixedlyconnected to the container part in the first closed position through anon-restorable connection.
 24. The package of claim 23 adapted such thatthe closure part is unable to be moved from the first closed position tothe open position unless the non-restorable connection is disconnected.25. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is provided withinstructions thereon, the instructions only being visible in the openposition of the closure part.
 26. The package of claim 25 wherein theclosure part has a cover section which in the first closed positioncovers the address and which in the second closed position does notcover the address, in which the cover section of the closure part is adetachable cover section adapted to be detached from the closure part,detachment of the detachable cover section moving the closure part fromthe first to the second configuration, in which the closure part has apermanent section which in the first and second closed positions issecured to the container part to close the opening to the cavity, and inwhich the instructions are provided on the permanent section of theclosure part.
 27. The package of claim 5 in which the permanent sectionof the closure part is secured to the container part at a joint aboutwhich the closure part is movable relative to the container part betweenits respective positions.
 28. The package of claim 27 in which theclosure part is fixedly connected to the container part in the firstclosed position through a non-restorable connection which, untildisconnected, prevents the closure part moving about the joint.
 29. Ablank of sheet material dimensioned and arranged to form a packageaccording to claim
 1. 30. (canceled)